Well, I really am in a jam.
My car is due its MOT by the weekend. Had it booked in today to get it done with the main dealership. I took it there rather than the usual MOT place I go as the engine management warning light has been on forever (last 2 years) and really wanted to get it sorted out once & for all - so booked in a Diagnostic check as well. I first got the car diagnostically checked when the light first appeared by a mobile set up. Bloke charged c£100 and said that it was something to do with the exhaust emissions & couldn't sort it - but manged to switch the warning light off. Problem solved...........NO. It came on again and as he said it was nothing and car was drivable with the light on I carried on.
MOT last year. I told my normal place about the warning light & they said its a fail. I said is there anything they could do to pass it & they did. No questions asked but chap did say to get it fixed. Silly me didn't
onto today. Dealership just rang to say it would fail due to the EM light being on (yes, I know that - thats why I took it there to get it fixed FIRST before having the MOT !! ) - Diagnostic check is £219 so not cheap to tell me what I already know.
The Diagnostic check says its a nox sensor - £1400 (inc VAT) to get it fixed. GULP. But here's the rub.............
They can't get a new sensor for 3-4 MONTHS. They are on order & its an issue countrywide. Can't do the MOT as it will fail without it.
So, what do I do. I can't be without a car for MONTHS. I cant be without a car for a week. They will let me pick the car up as they haven't yet done the MOT but then what ?
Drive without an MOT & get it done when the part is finally in ?
Take it to my usual garage ? - but I don't want to have THAT conversation again. Not fair on the bloke & I'm sure he'll tell me to do one.
The most stupidest thing about it all is that the car is fine. Roadworthy & the EM warning light doesn't affect the car at all. Its not like I'm driving around with bald tyres or an exhaust hanging off.
Then I read ANPR cameras pick up cars without an MOT and its a £1000 fine - so its not like I can just hope I don't get pulled over before part is available.
WWYD.
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I sent a car to a broker/dealer to be sold a few years ago and bought a MG ZR Atomix and run around in that. Okay it was tacky and slow but I really enjoyed it for a change and kind of wished I'd kept it now.
But biggest kicker is I'm in the middle of buying a property. Need every penny I have & can't have new finance as that will scupper the mortgage.
If it has dodgy emissions it is best off the road until fixed
The other option is see if you can get something that can talk to the operating system and switch it off yourself.
Pm me if you are interested
1, DO NOT DRIVE WITHOUT A VALID ANNUAL TEST.
(Invalidates your insurance, and if you do have an RTC and the Police become involved and someone is KSI, you can face pretty serious charges)
2, Yes ANPR is triggered you can be stopped by a Traffic Officer. DVSA DO NOT STOP PRIVATE MOTORIST. However they do run special ops alongside Traff Pols and can issue prohibitions)
3, DO NOT GET A FRAUDULENT TEST CERT,
You would be in the realms of serious trouble if they can prove the MOT cert was issued fraudulently.
The Tester the Garage, will not be able to produce a Emissions print out, They can also ask for ANPR "pings" which may show the car being in another location while the test is taking place.
AND THE POLICE/DVSA PROSECUTE ON BENT MOTS
My advice is get the part number of the NOX sensor and see if you can locate the part on the Internet,(make sure its genuine) get your local man in a van to install. While your waiting for the part get the car tested, and make sure their no other nasty surprises then you will know that once the sensor is installed and MIL lamp extinguished. He-Ho valid MOT and away you go.
(The only time you can drive a car without a valid test being in force is when it is en-route to an MOT nation with a pre-booked appointment)
Go to a MOT place, tell them the score and bung them a drink.
Simple
Now, what he should have done was go and get a real MOT, he didn’t bother. A few months later and the road tax was up. So he sent my mum off to the car tax office in Sidcup to renew the car tax. During that couple of months the list of “stolen” MOT numbers had been circulated. Which resulted in the lady asking my mum and little sister to wait for a few minutes. After which, two OB from the station just up the road arrived to ask my mum to accompany them to the police station to help them with their enquiries. She knew nothing and they let her go, but asked for the dad to attend the station at his earliest convenience.
take it to your usual place and get the mot passed like you did last year and then book it into the main dealer (or shop around) and take it back in 3-4 months. If you're not booking it in for an mot now, they won't remember in a quarter of a year that they told you it would fail.
I've been waiting for the Merc dealership to call me back as I wanted to speak to the service manager rather than a telephone operator who was just relying messages.
Obviously it's gone 5.30 & they've all gone home so will have to deal with it in the morning. Hoping the service manager can come up with a suitable work around if not I'll be picking the car up & bringing it home. Then I'll likely be taking up one of the suggestions on here.
Also been on the Merc owners Facebook page. Loads & loads of this problem over the past 2 years. Options people have suggested is getting it "mapped out" (???) or having the Ad Blue deleted. Or as suggested on here sourcing the part off Ebay & fitting it myself. That last one is above my pay grade though.
One thought I did have which I know won't fly. I pay extra on my insurance for a courtesy car. Now, if the car needs a "part" and without that "part" the car is not legally allowed on the road I wonder if I could claim on the insurance for a courtesy car. As I said, I know it would be knocked back but.....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164025638112?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=UfWGqs5QSAa&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ZSqHT42dRJO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
If you buy a similar puppy to this then you should be able to see and clear the error code (and therefore light) yourself.
I got shock absorbers from a German supplier and local garage to fit. Also clutch parts. Admittedly nox sensor needs to be specific to make and model and maybe some risk of getting wrong one but big savings likely.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+nox+sensor&oq=merc+nox+wenor&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i13i512l14.5319j0j7&client=ms-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
All garages rely on their usual suppliers and won't have the internet skills to search out a specific item for a customer. Self service is the way to go.